Socrates the Cat

A desktop cat that walks the real tab strips, panel edges, and status bar in VS Code. He grooms, sleeps, dreams, reacts to your pointer, and falls when his ledge disappears. You can click-and-hold to pick him up and drop him on another ledge when he blocks your code. The overlay stays click-through so you can keep working.

This Windows desktop extension starts, stops, and diagnoses the managed native companion (companion.exe). It does not replace the GitHub clone workflow - contributors still use socrates from companion/. Built with Tauri 2, Rust, TypeScript, Vite, and Windows UI Automation (same pet and binary as the source repo).

Clone and extension both use the same native companion and pet assets. The extension does not replace or block the clone workflow.

Demo

Pointer play (overlay stays click-through to the IDE):

Portal hop (rare - emerges on another walkable ledge):

Pick up and move - click-and-hold (~250 ms) inside Socrates's pointer-reach area, then drag and release. The reach box matches swipe/pounce (yellow outline with socrates --debug from a clone launch). Release lands him on the next walkable ledge below his feet. Clicks still pass through to the editor; dragging may select text underneath.

He also walks and turns at ledge ends, stretches, grooms, sits and looks at the pointer, clings to moving horizontal splits, and slides down dividers. Activities and clips are in pet.json.

Developer layout overlay — clone: socrates --debug. Extension: enable Socrates › Debug: Enabled (or related settings below), Stop if the cat is already running, then Socrates: Start. Same release companion.exe and HABITAT_DEBUG* flags as the clone launcher.

Requirements

Install (local VSIX)

From the repo root, after building the native binary:

cd companion
npm run tauri:build:release
cd ..\extension
npm ci
npm run package:win

Install extension/stage/socrates-the-cat-*-win32-x64.vsix via Extensions → … → Install from VSIX.

npm run package:win rebuilds the native binary by default (package:win:fast skips that step). Output includes extension/stage/bundle-manifest.json (versions and sha256). Packaging does not run git commit, git push, or vsce publish.

Commands

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

• Socrates: Start - launch or attach to the managed cat (targets VS Code via HABITAT_IDE_HOST=code)
• Socrates: Stop - stop the shared managed instance for this session
• Socrates: Show Diagnostics - pipe status, companion path, managed log directory (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Socrates\logs\vscode-managed), requested vs applied habitat debug flags

Settings (User, application scope — Settings → search Socrates debug):

Changes apply on the next Start after Stop (presentation is fixed at process start). Stop ends the shared managed cat for all VS Code windows.

Coexistence: socrates from a clone and the extension-managed cat are independent. Multiple VS Code windows can attach to one managed instance; closing a window releases that window's ownership (the cat stays up while another window remains attached). Stop shuts down the shared managed instance for the session.

Logs and troubleshooting

Managed runs log to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Socrates\logs\vscode-managed (SOCRATES_LOG_DIR). Source socrates launches keep using %LOCALAPPDATA%\Socrates\logs unless overridden.

More diagnostics: GitHub README - troubleshooting.

Privacy

No extension telemetry. Diagnostics read the local named pipe and print paths/status to an output channel only. The native companion reads IDE layout via UI Automation (geometry only, not editor text). Review logs and recordings before sharing them.

License and contact

The extension package is MIT (LICENSE). Cat artwork and animation metadata: artwork license (attribution for public redistribution). The bundled companion.exe embeds sprite artwork under those terms.

General Chromodynamics - generalchromodynamics.com · generalchromodynamics@protonmail.com

Optional support for development: Buy Me a Coffee. Tips are voluntary; source and artwork stay under the licenses above.

Report suspected security vulnerabilities privately to generalchromodynamics@protonmail.com.